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The Centre for Health Policy (CHP) is a South African health systems and policy research unit based in the School of Public Health at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. CHP employs a multi-disciplinary group of public health and social scientists and offers a dynamic environment in which to conduct cutting-edge health systems and policy research that strongly encourages writing for publication. The Centre provides opportunities for engagement in South African health sector policy and as well as international academic consortia. CHP has an established national and international reputation. Website: http://www.wits.ac.za/chp

We are looking for a researcher to work on this exciting project. The appointment will be on a fixed term contract, renewable depending on availability of funding. The successful candidate will be tasked with: • conducting rapid syntheses • conducting database searches and grey literature searches• upload and manage searches on electronic platforms like Covidence• extracting data and drafting a narrative synthesis

The successful candidate will be highly motivated and will:• hold a Masters in public health, epidemiology, sociology, political science, development studies, health economics; or equivalent Master’s degree• have excellent writing skills (proof will be required)• be able to apply their minds to complex questions and the complexities of health systems implementation • have evidence of research, scholarly ability and output. (10 DOHET/ISI- accredited publications are required for a senior researcher appointment).

The following will be advantageous:• have experience in working on systematic reviews• have a good grasp of both qualitative and quantitative design and methods• Experience of contributing to policy development and/or implementation• Research supervision an advantage (researcher appointment); or evidence of teaching experience and postgraduate supervision (senior researcher)

Training will be provided in synthesis methods. There are opportunities to pursue a PhD within the School of Public Health, University of the Witwatersrand if the successful candidate is interested.

Enquiries (only): Prof Jane Goudge, email jane.goudge@gmail.com. Applications will ONLY be accepted through the Wits IRecruitment online system

The remuneration package would be commensurate with experience and is subject to the University’s regulations.

Closing date: 27 October 2017

To apply:Please submit the following documents on http://www.wits.ac.za/vacancies/ or for internal applicants https://irec.wits.ac.za

o a covering letter outlining your interest and suitability for this position o a detailed CV, including contact detailso names, addresses and contact details of 3 referees whom may be contactedo certified copies of degrees/diplomas o certified copy of ID (or passport and visa)o a short piece of recent written work undertaken solely or predominantly by yourself

The University is committed to employment equity. Preference will be given to appointable applicants from the designated South African groups in terms of the relevant employment equity plans and policies of the University. The University retains the right not to make an appointment, to re-advertise and to verify all information provided by candidates. Please note that correspondence will only be entered into with shortlisted candidates.

The Recommended Dose launches today with one of the world’s most influential doctors, BMJ editor-in-chief Fiona Godlee calling for a move away from drug company-funded science – towards a more independent evaluation of medicines.

Multi-award-winning journalist and health researcher Dr Ray Moynihan today launched a compelling new podcast series produced by Cochrane Australia.

‘This new series tackles the big questions in health and offers new insights evidence and ideas from some of the world’s most fascinating and prolific researchers, writers and thinkers,’ says Ray. ‘Its aim is to promote a more questioning approach to health care.’

Episode one of The Recommended Dose kicks off with the British Medical Journal’s erudite and exceptional editor, Dr Fiona Godlee. In a wide-ranging and candid interview, she chats to Ray about the BMJ's ongoing and often controversial campaigns to change medicine - and broader society - for the better. She looks to a future that addresses the distorting influence of industry funding on health evidence and outcomes.

‘In an ideal world - and it's a world we’d like to be moving towards - we wouldn't have this irreducible conflict of interest in research that is affecting people's health,’Dr Godlee tells The Recommended Dose. ‘People who dream of a better future say, well why couldn't we have a pot into which industry, if they want to market their drugs or license them, put a proportion of their profits and that money would be used to evaluate their drugs in an independent and transparent way.’

Alongside her professional views, she lets Ray and the podcast listeners in on what drives and inspires her to achieve so much in her influential role at the helm of one of the world's oldest, most popular and prestigious medical science journals.

‘Having spent almost 20 years in investigative journalism and more recently inside the world of academic research, it’s very exciting for me to be able to share these compelling conversations exploring the critical questions and controversies in health today, alongside the personal stories of some particularly extraordinary people,’Ray says. ‘We’re hoping this new look behind the scenes will open the world of evidence up to everyone and encourage a more questioning approach to health – whether you’re a journalist, health professional or more especially if you’re not a health insider at all.’

Later episodes of The Recommended Dosefeature one of the worlds highest profile psychiatrists, Dr Allen Frances who shares his thoughts on his now infamous statement that ‘Trump isn’t mad, we are’, which made global headlines in recent months.

Another notable guest also often in the headlines is Professor Lisa Bero, whose nutrition research was discovered to be secretly monitored by Coca-Cola. Leading South African researcher Professor Jimmy Volmink and well-known Australian Professor ofEvidence BasedMedicine Paul Glasziou are among others who join Ray for engaging, informative and thought-provoking podcasts later in the series.

With all the endless talk of fake news, The Recommended Dose will be a welcome player on the podcast scene.For more details or to listen visit australia.cochrane.org/trd or find the first episodes on iTunes, Soundcloud or wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts.
Thursday, October 19, 2017

Salary: $50,956-$70,095Status: Full Time, Monday – Friday 37.5 hrs.School: Bloomberg School of Public HealthDepartment: EpidemiologyLocation: School of Public HealthLocation: Baltimore, MD, USA

This position is with the Cochrane Eyes and Vision (CEV) US Project. Primary duties include providing methodological support for the production of systematic reviews of interventions to prevent and treat eye disease and visual impairment and coordinating the activities of CEV systematic reviews conducted by US-based ophthalmologists, optometrists, and other vision researchers.

As a methodologist, the candidate will assist with key tasks in the systematic review process such as refining research questions, identifying and assessing relevant research studies for eligibility, critically appraising primary studies for bias, developing data collection forms, extracting/entering data, performing qualitative and quantitative synthesis (meta-analyses) of primary studies, and preparing manuscripts for publication in The Cochrane Library.

This position will serve as a technical expert and provide regular consultation to more than 50 US-based eye care clinicians and vision researchers conducting reviews and will perform any or all of the key tasks mentioned above to provide assistance as necessary. The candidate also will work closely with the Project Director, Principal Investigator, and additional CEV staff in the United Kingdom to resolve methodological and statistical issues and to ensure that reviews conducted by US-based researchers are of the highest quality. Will assist with the development and preparation of training materials and actively participate in workshops on evidence-based healthcare and systematic review preparation. Other duties include participating in methodological research conducted by CEV faculty, providing support to staff by identifying unpublished clinical trials, assisting with reports to the funding agency, participating in journal clubs, organizing conference calls and staff meetings, and performing other tasks as assigned.

The Faculty of Medicine of the University of Freiburg and the Cochrane Germany Foundation (CDS) invites applications for a Cochrane Professorship (W 3) for Evidence in Medicine as soon as possible. The future holder of the position will represent the subject in research and teaching and will be the director of the Institute for Evidence in Medicine (for Cochrane Germany Foundation). The appointment for the Professorship follows the “Berliner Modell”. Furthermore the appointee will be the scientific director of the CDS and board member. A research focus on systematic reviews, methods of evidence-based medicine and grading of evidence for clinical recommendations is expected.

Applicants must have extensive knowledge of and experience within The Cochrane Collaboration, including:

Authorship or co-authorship of one or more Cochrane Systematic Reviews;

Leadership of or significant involvement in one or more of Cochrane’s 120 Groups or Central ExecutiveTeam Departments; and, preferably

Involvement in Cochrane’s Group Executives, Governing Board or other organization-wide governance, advisory or executive bodies.

The professorships will be established by the Faculty of medicine in support of the Excellence Strategy.

Requirements for the appointment are in addition to the compliance with the employment regulations, the completion of a university degree in medicine, educational qualification and an exceptional doctorate degree. Applicants should have a Habilitation or an equivalent qualification (§ 47 Landeshochschulgesetz (LHG)).

The position is tenured according to § 50 para. 1 Landeshochschulgesetz (LHG) Baden-Württemberg.

The University of Freiburg seeks to increase the number of female scientific faculty members and therefore strongly encourages qualified women to apply for the position. The university is committed to providing a family-friendly workplace. Applicants with disabilities (Schwerbehinderte) will be given preferential consideration in case of equal qualification.

Applications with all pertinent documents (incl. teaching experience) should be sent by e-mail (professuren-bewerbungen@uniklinik-freiburg.de) no later than 9 November 2017 to the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Prof. Dr. K. Krieglstein, University of Freiburg, 79085 Freiburg, Germany.

Cochrane is creating eight new Networks of Cochrane Review Groups (CRGs) responsible for the efficient and timely production of high-quality systematic reviews that address the research questions that are most important to decision makers. The creation of these thematic Networks provides an exciting opportunity for experts in the field to join Cochrane’s new editorial leadership and help the organization deliver its Strategy to 2020 objectives.

Cochrane is delighted to announce that we are looking for eight high-performing Senior Editors to lead the Networks, covering the review production areas of:

Acute and Emergency Care;

Brain, Nerves and Mind;

Cancer;

Children and Families;

Circulation and Breathing;

Long-term Conditions and Ageing (two distinct Networks); and

Public Health and Health Systems.

Accountability and Responsibility

Senior Editors are accountable to Cochrane’s Editor in Chief. Upon their appointment, Senior Editors will form the newly established Editorial Board for the Cochrane Library, along with colleagues representing methods, knowledge translation and end users. The Editorial Board will be responsible for supporting the EiC and overseeing development and implementation of editorial strategy, in particular the review production process for Cochrane Reviews, and also monitoring the performance of the Cochrane Library.

Within their individual Network, working with CRG teams and the Associate Editor, the Senior Editor’s main responsibilities are both strategic and operational:

Ensure that the reviews produced and published by the CRGs within the Network are of high quality and meet Cochrane’s standards.

Identify gaps in scope coverage based on (at a minimum) the global burden of diseases, and lead and support prioritization processes within the Network.

Lead and support the identification of shared priorities within the Network.

Support communication between the Network and Cochrane community.

Support innovation in the production of Cochrane systematic reviews and their enduse.

Each Senior Editor will be responsible for one Network.

Person specification

Senior Editors will possess the seniority and experience that enables them to fulfil their roles, preferably with the expertise relevant to an organization such as Cochrane, operating as a not-for-profit charity in the research and publishing sectors.

Senior Editors should also have experience and expertise in key areas of systematic review production, and in addition should be able to demonstrate:

Strong commitment to Cochrane’s Strategy to 2020, and the importance of high quality, relevant systematic reviews that impact on health care and policy

Ability to support and lead innovation

Ability to commit to being available for one day per week for a three-year period

Desirable attributes:

Relevant content expertise

Past or present experience of being a Co-ordinating Editor of a high performing CRG

Past or present experience of editing systematic reviews

Resources

The Senior Editors will receive funding from Cochrane to support their work – scaled at about one day per week of activity.

Senior Editors will be able to draw on support from the Associate Editor allocated to their Network, and from a Methods Support Team. Cochrane’s Central Executive Team (CET) will also seek internal and external opportunities for attracting resources for additional support to Networks.

Term of appointment

Senior Editors will be appointed in January 2018. They will serve as members of Cochrane’s Editorial Board for a period of three years, renewable.

Co-ordinating Editors who wish to apply for a Senior Editor’s position within a Network that consists of their CRG, should be prepared to step down from that role for the duration of their appointment.

Recruitment process

This position is open to anyone who meets the requirements described above.

All applications will be reviewed by the Editor in Chief, the Deputy Editor in Chief, and the Sustainability Project Team, who will jointly make the appointments.

We are open to job share applications that describe how the functions will be divided, and how continuity will be achieved. We would also welcome applications from candidates wishing to undertake this role as a part-time secondment from their employer.

The appointment process will consider the need for all aspects of diversity, including those of gender, age, experience, language and geographical location. Cochrane’s Editor in Chief aims to appoint a balanced Editorial Board that includes Senior Editors who possess a wide range of content and methodological expertise.

To apply please send a letter, Curriculum Vitae, and letter of support to recruitment@cochrane.org by Monday 13th November 2017.

About Cochrane

Cochrane is a global independent network of researchers, professionals, patients, carers, and people interested in health.

Cochrane produces reviews which study all of the best available evidence generated through research and make it easier to inform decisions about health. Cochrane is a not-for-profit organization with collaborators from more than 130 countries working together to produce credible, accessible health information that is free from commercial sponsorship and other conflicts of interest. Our work is recognized as representing an international gold standard for high-quality, trusted information.

Main Area: Pain MangementHours: Full time, 37.5 hours per weekLocation: Oxford, UKSalary: £26,565 to £35,577 per annumClosing: 19 October 2017Interviews: 20 November 2017

We would like to invite applications for this interesting and challenging opportunity to support the day-to-day running of the editorial office, and to contribute to the development of Cochrane systematic reviews in the field of pain, and palliative and supportive care.

The Cochrane Pain, Palliative and Supportive Care Review Group (PaPaS) is part of Cochrane. This is an international network of individuals and organisations committed to preparing, maintaining, updating, and disseminating the results of systematic reviews of healthcare interventions to help people make well-informed decisions about healthcare.

The focus of this Cochrane Review Group (CRG) is studies of interventions for acute pain, chronic pain, headache and migraine, palliative care for those with life-limiting disease or illness, and supportive care of patients and significant others living with serious illness. PaPaS is one of more than 50 CRGs worldwide which contribute to the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR) on the Cochrane Library.

The group is funded by the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) in the United Kingdom as part of the Research and Development programme. This post is funded for 12 months in the first instance, at 0.8 FTE (fewer hours may be considered for the right candidate).

An Editorial Assistant and Systematic Reviewer is required to provide support to the Managing Editor and contribute to the preparation of reviews. The post requires a flexible approach to a variety of responsibilities, and the successful candidate will work with the Managing Editor to divide their time effectively.

Duties relating to the editorial process include, but are not limited to: providing specialised editorial support to review authors; managing the editorial process, for example, peer review, using our online database, Archie; communicating with editorial staff, authors and other contributors; taking minutes; managing communications via newsletters and social media.

Duties relating to systematic reviewing include, but are not limited to: joining an existing multidisciplinary author team to support them to complete protocols, new reviews, or updates; building a new team and leading the development of new reviews; adhering to editorial procedures and timelines; liaising with co-authors and other contributors.

The ideal applicant will be educated to degree level, will be familiar with Cochrane, and will have experience of developing Cochrane systematic reviews.

We are looking for a full-time systematic reviewer to join Cochrane Airways for three years to undertake a set of reviews about respiratory conditions. The reviews will use diverse methods and will be conducted in conjunction with the editorial team, international authors, the NIHR Complex Review Support Unit and NICE.

The successful candidate will be a graduate with experience in and enthusiasm for systematic review. The post-holder will be familiar with research synthesis techniques, have excellent collaborative skills, ability to write fluently and effective time management. Knowledge and interest in the work of Cochrane is highly desirable.

The salary for the role will be within the range of £ 32,548- £38,883 plus London Allowance £ 3,027

Cochrane is delighted to announce the official launch of Cochrane Argentina, a new Cochranecentre with a vision to increase the use of best evidence to inform healthcare decision making throughout Argentina.

Cochrane Argentina will promote evidence-based decision making in health care by supporting and training new local authors of Cochrane Reviews, as well as working with clinicians, professional associations, policy-makers, patients, and the media to encourage the dissemination and use of Cochrane evidence. Cochrane Argentina’s inaugural Director will be Agustin Ciapponi supported by the leaders of the other two institutions, Juan Franco (IUHI) and Yanina Sguassero (CREP). Together they will offer methodological support, mentoring, and supervision to the region.

Cochrane Argentina is part of Cochrane, a global independent network of researchers, professionals, patients, carers, and people interested in health. Cochrane works with collaborators from more than 130 countries to produce credible, accessible health information that is free from commercial sponsorship and other conflicts of interest. Cochrane’s work is recognized as representing an international gold standard for high quality, trusted information.

Director of Cochrane Argentina, Agustin Ciapponi, says this is a hugely exciting opportunity: “The launch of Cochrane Argentina is very important, both to our country and globally. Producing and increasing the dissemination of the best available information on health care is critical for clinicians and patients everywhere in the world.”

Cochrane’s CEO Mark Wilson, warmly welcomed today’s news: “We are delighted by the launch of Cochrane Argentina and look forward to welcoming more Argentine collaborators to our worldwide network of volunteers. I am sure the new Centre will greatly expand the scope, reach, and impact of Cochrane evidence on health and healthcare decision-making across Argentina and the whole of South America. We are continuing to offer through a sales trial programme one-click access to the Cochrane Library in Argentina, and downloads of Cochrane Systematic Reviews have increased by nearly 900% in the last two years. This is tremendously encouraging as we seek to help clinicians, researchers, policymakers, patients and the general public improve health outcomes across the country.”

Juan Franco (IUHI) added: “This is an innovation for our region and we intend to collaborate in the production and dissemination of Cochrane reviews to continue supporting Cochrane to reach its 2020 strategic objectives.”

Daniel Comandé (IECS), one of the Center’s Information Specialists says: “Cochrane Argentina will promote recognition of studies conducted and published in this country and this will not only simply increase the access of evidence, but also promote sharing of clinical experiences across South America and the world.

Applications are invited for the post of Cochrane Managing Editor for the Common Mental Disorders Group within the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination at the University of York.

You will have experience of international research management or scientific/medical publishing. With knowledge of the scientific methods used in health-related research and systematic reviews, you will be able to lead the management and publishing aspects of the CMD Group. Your knowledge and understanding of the work of the Cochrane Collaboration and systematic reviews is an essential component of the role. You will be able to demonstrate excellent time management skills in prioritizing and organizing work and past success in delivering large scale projects to fixed deadlines. You will have good communication and interpersonal skills, and be able to think creatively and strategically to solve problems.

You will be required to draw on specialist expertise and skills, including independent decision-making, to:

maintain and develop clear working practices to govern the activities of the multidisciplinary consortium of international clinical and research teams;

advise and assist on the scientific and editorial aspects of CMD review production;

provide a lead for the financial and legal administration of CMD resources;

act as key contact between the members of the CMD and between the CMD and the wider Cochrane Collaboration, Wiley-Blackwell and NIHR, towards the fulfilment and delivery of the output of the CMD.

You will have a first degree in a relevant health, science or social science subject and a relevant masters-level qualification. A PhD in a relevant subject is desirable. You will have a track record of successfully managing international collaborative health/scientific research OR scientific publishing, including preparation/delivery of scientific and/or financial reports and applications to funding bodies or publishers.

Based at: University of York - Heslington Campus, UKHours of work: Full or part-time Contract status: Fixed termSalary: £31,604 - £38,832 per yearApply by: 29/10/2017

Applications are invited for a Grade 6 Systematic Review Research Fellow based at the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (CRD) at the University of York to work primarily on Cochrane reviews.

You will be a key member of the Cochrane Common Mental Disorders (CMD) editorial team, working as part of multi-disciplinary teams to deliver CMD systematic reviews and other evidence synthesis projects, often to tight deadlines. You will contribute to all aspects of CMDs systematic reviews including screening articles for inclusion, quality and risk of bias assessment, data extraction, data collection, data management, data synthesis (quantitative and qualitative), interpreting results and writing research reports and papers, with appropriate skills to contribute to other types of synthesis including individual participant data and network meta-analyses, within the CMD group and, where appropriate, other CRD research projects. You may also work on developing methods both within reviews and as standalone projects.

Working under the supervision of the Co-ordinating Editor of the CMD group you will provide support and guidance on methodological aspects of systematic reviews, and will collaborate with a range of CMD review teams at all stages of the review writing and editorial process. You will actively contribute to editorial team meetings and communicate effectively with other team members. Presentation of CMDs work at internal and external meetings and at conferences is also an expectation of the role.

You will have a first degree in a relevant health, science or social science subject and a relevant masters-level qualification. A PhD in a relevant subject is desirable. We are particularly keen to encourage applications from those who have an excellent understanding and previous experience of undertaking systematic reviews in mental health, and prior experience of health related research.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month happens every October and is a month which organizations around the world concentrate their efforts on raising awareness about the disease.

Cochrane Breast Cancer's objective is to provide the best source of accurate and up-to-date information, especially about the prevention, early detection, treatments, follow-up care, and supportive practices for women diagnosed with breast cancer. Their Cochrane Reviews continue to be an integral part of national and international clinical best practice guidelines and their development of Plain Language Summaries provide evidence to policymakers and members of the community in easy to understand language.

The theme of the Summit was ‘Using evidence. Improving lives’ and aimed to advance the use of reliable research evidence in addressing some of the world’s most serious health and social challenges. Attendees from across the world were exposed to an illuminating line-up of content and world-class speakers and facilitators that intrigued and engaged wide audiences. We were also treated to an astonishing array of social events and entertainment including talented performers from the Drum Café, gumboot dancing, and the Marimba band. Here are just a few highlights from the week that was, The Global Evidence Summit 13 – 17th September 2017.

Cochrane's community recognizes success : Find out more about new initiatives to get involved with our work and share with the community and beyond.

How Cochrane's partners recognize and define our success: Cochrane's partnerships play an essential role in developing and sharing our evidence with key people and organizations across the health community.

Patients and their stories: Three stories about how Cochrane evidence has affected people's lives and how these experiences have contributed to Cochrane's work.

On Saturday 16 September several students from a school near Cape Town attended the morning plenary at the Global Evidence Summit. The students go to school at the Centre Of Science and Technology (COSAT). They were accompanied by their principal and two mentors from the Children’s Radio Foundation who are training them to create radio journalism on public health topics. Following the plenary the students interviewed each of the presenting experts on the topic of evidence in a post-truth world.

Students and teachers play an important role in Cochrane. They are involved in educating the next generation of healthcare professionals about evidence-based medicine, directly contributing to a global effort of identifying health evidence, to translating Cochrane evidence in 14 different languages.

Hanna Martikainen conducts PhD research at Paris Diderot University on the French-language translation of Cochrane Systematic Review abstracts. Having previously worked as a translation coordinator and post-editor for Cochrane France, she now teaches a class in post-editing medical LSP at the Department of Cross-Cultural Studies and Applied Languages (EILA) at Paris Diderot University. During the past academic year (2016-2017), second year Master’s students in specialized translation have had a unique opportunity to contribute to the French translation project by post-editing machine-translated Cochrane abstracts and Plain Language Summaries. The project has been renewed for the coming academic year and the students have shared their experience here.

Marie, Angèle, Margarita, Pierre, and Pauline described the profiles and general background of students in their second year Master’s degree in specialized translation: "We are a group of 20 students from the ILTS (Industrie de la Langue et Traduction Spécialisée) Master’s degree at Paris Diderot University This course is open to students with prior translation experience in which is the case for most of us, but also to students who have technical experience and who speak at least two languages. None of our courses had trained us to domedical translation. Each one of us had the opportunity to post-edit five medical texts for Cochrane. It was a great experience because we discovered a new field and a new way to work with languages.”

Vera, Marie, Lionelle, Marion, and Justine explained their post-editing work: "Post-editing consists of editing automatic translation produced by a machine. You may already have used machine translation such as Google Translate. Post-editing will undoubtedly play an important part in the future of translation since it will help improve productivity and reduce costs. During the post-editing process, we often had to rephrase or rearrange long and complex sentences, and fix mistranslations, grammatical errors, and inconsistencies."

Nadjet, Mélanie, Pauline, and Lucie noted the specificities of medical English and their importance when translating: "We noticed that English terms do not necessarily belong to languages for specific purposes (LSP), they often seem very simplified. In French, it is quite the opposite since specialized terminology of Latin origin is almost the only one to be used in both LSP and general language.Also the use of passive sentences in English is very common, while we are instructed to avoid them in French as much as possible.”

Joanna, Maya, Camille, Bruno, and Mickaël discussed how their pre-conceived expectations compared to the reality of post-editing: "We thought it would be necessary to have medicine-related knowledge. In reality, the first paragraphs gave us a good grasp of the subject. We simply needed to do some extra research to make sure the terminology was accurate and we had correctly understood the process of thought. Ofcoursethe machine version is not entirely reliable but it was far more efficient than we expected."

Post-editing machine-translated Cochrane texts gave the students a hands-on introduction not only to this recent and booming domain of translation industries, but also to the specificities of medical translation. Moreover, the experience was a professionalizing one, given that the student post-editions were all published on Cochrane websites with acknowledgment given to post-editors.

If you are a student, learn about the many ways you can get involved with Cochane:

Cochrane is delighted to announce the official launch of its new, online introductory training course on how to conduct a systematic review of interventions.

As part of the launch of Cochrane’s new online learning programme,Cochrane Interactive Learning, Cochrane authors and other producers of systematic reviews from across the world will be able to access self-directed learning on framing a review, searching for studies, risk of bias assessment, meta-analysis, GRADE and the complete systematic review process, developed by world-leading experts in systematic review methods.

Cochrane Interactive Learning is a new offering from Cochrane, a global, independent network of researchers, professionals, patients, carers and people interested in health. The online learning modules will promote evidence-based decision making in healthcare globally by supporting and training authors of Cochrane Reviews and other systematic reviews of healthcare interventions.

New learners will have the chance to embark on modular, interactive training on how to produce systematic reviews, and experienced authors and can refresh their skills with the latest guidance and best practice.

Miranda Cumpston, Cochrane’s Head of Learning and Support, says this is a hugely exciting opportunity: “Our new online training course offers dynamic, flexible and engaging content with nine modules and over 100 bite-size learning units, building knowledge for new and existing authors one step at a time. They provide clear explanations with stimulating interactions, quizzes, animations, examples and reference resources, and enable learners to tailor their learning experience, in their own time, and from anywhere in the world, from a laptop, tablet or phone.”

Charlotte Pestridge, CEO of Cochrane Innovations, adds “Cochrane Interactive Learning will also serve educators in evidence-based health care, providers of professional development to researchers or health professionals, researchers within guideline development or HTA settings, commercial research organisations, and commissioners of systematic reviews who rely on rigorous methods to make evidence-informed decisions.”

The first four modules of Cochrane Interactive Learning are available now for free trial access for individuals and institutions.

Cochrane is a global independent network of researchers, professionals, patients, carers and people interested in health.Cochrane produces reviews which study all of the best available evidence generated through research and make it easier to inform decisions about health. These are called systematic reviews. Cochrane is a not-for profit organisation with collaborators from more than 120 countries working together to produce credible, accessible health information that is free from commercial sponsorship and other conflicts of interest. Our work is recognised as representing an international gold standard for high quality, trusted information.

If you are a journalist or member of the press and wish to receive news alerts before their online publication or if you wish to arrange an interview with an author, please contact the Cochrane press office: pressoffice@cochrane.org

Cochrane, a global independent network of researchers, professionals, patients, carers and people interested in health will be holding the 25th annual Cochrane Colloquium at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre in Scotland from 15th to 18th September 2018. It will be hosted by Cochrane UK.

The theme of the Colloquium will be:

‘Cochrane for all – better evidence for better health decisions’

This will be a Colloquium for everyone. It will welcome newcomers to Cochrane from all parts of the world and from all backgrounds. One of the key aims is to increase the involvement of patients, carers and family members (healthcare consumers) in our work. As such, the Colloquium 2018 will be a Patients Included event that is co-designed, co-produced and co-presented by healthcare consumers and where everyone’s input is valued equally.

The Colloquium 2018 will focus on the key goals of Cochrane’s Strategy to 2020, looking through the eyes of healthcare consumers and in partnership with them:

Producing evidence

Making evidence accessible

Advocating for evidence

Effective and sustainable organization

Martin Burton, Director of Cochrane UK, said: “We have been asked why our focus is on patients, when Cochrane has so many different stakeholders, and we know that all stakeholders ultimately share the same goal – better health for patients. We believe we can best achieve this by working together as equal partners.

We want to make this an inclusive, inspiring and accessible event. We also want to build on our existing work involving and engaging with consumers, to take this engagement to a new level after the event is over”.

For more on the rationale behind making the 2018 Colloquium a ‘Patients Included’ event, you can read a blog here co-authored by Cochrane Consumer Co-ordinator Richard Morley, and Cochrane UK's Director Martin Burton and Sarah Chapman. At the bottom of the blog there is a survey inviting suggestions for making the Colloquium a ‘Patients Included’ event.

More detail on dates, registration, and the scientific programme will be announced in the coming months.

I am delighted to announce a new initiative that I believe will transform Cochrane as an evidence-producing and knowledge-diffusing organization. Today, we are proud to launch our new Cochrane Membership scheme, making it easier than ever before for anyone from anywhere in the world to become a part of our global community of supporters and collaborators passionate about improving healthcare decisions.

The Cochrane Membership scheme will enable us to grow our collaboration, attracting many new people with a wider range of experience and skills into our work, and allowing us to recognize their contributions and sustain our global activities for better health outcomes.

Cochrane’s past, present, and future success is built on the quality of the people it attracts and retains. We are so proud of the tens of thousands of volunteers who already work with us because we know that what we do and the impact for good that we have as an organization are rooted in their efforts. And from today, that world is becoming wider; a world where decisions about health and health care are informed by high-quality, relevant and up-to-date synthesized research evidence.

Today’s announcement is part of the first phase of our Membership scheme, which will evolve and expand in the coming months and years. I wanted to share with you what this means, how you can make contributions to Cochrane’s work, and be a part of our expanding global community.

Whether you just want to stay close to what we're about and what we're doing; build your health research skills and training; help us translate Cochrane evidence into your language; support us with a financial contribution; or eventually become an independent published author in one of the world's top health journals – the Cochrane Library – we have many ways that you can become part of our work.

Joining Cochrane as a supporter can be a commitment as immediate as screening records to find randomized trials with only five minutes of training as part of Cochrane Crowd; or as demanding and involved as being accepted as an author of a Cochrane Review. Many of our contributors work on Cochrane projects during working hours, others in their spare time, in workplaces or at home. It's up to you, depending on your interests and the time you have to contribute.

We’ve created a central membership database that stores details of Cochrane’s supporters and members and tracks their contributions to Cochrane, whether as an author, translator, Crowd participant, Task Exchange contributor, or a learner. The system will recommend activities to new supporters and members to help them expand your skills, experience, and expertise, making it easier to contribute to Cochrane’s work without increasing the workload of our Cochrane Groups.

Supporters are eligible to become Cochrane members after reaching a threshold of activities linked to their contributions. By becoming a member of Cochrane, you will:

Develop new skills and interests

Work with like-minded colleagues and collaborators

Grow professional and social networks

Receive world class training from world leading experts in the fields of medicine, health policy, research methodology, and consumer advocacy

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To find out more about Cochrane’s work in improving global health decision making and how you can make a difference, visit our Membership pages.

Cochrane Membership signals a huge change for the organization and I’m delighted we are announcing its launch this week at the Global Evidence Summit in Cape Town. Our doors are now open to the world in a new expansive way; everyone is welcome to join us and make a contribution – large or small – to our global mission: an open collaboration of brilliant people from around the world all working together to inform and impact health decision making.

Four new Cochrane EPOC overviews of reviews show reliable evidence on the effects of different ways of organising, financing, and governing health systems in low-income countries and identify important evidence gaps.

Strengthening health systems in low-income countries is key to achieving universal health coverage and achieving the health-related Sustainable Development Goals. Achieving these goals requires informed decisions about health systems. Systematic reviews on the effects of different health system arrangements are essential for making informed decisions, and many such reviews are available. However, policymakers and other stakeholders may struggle to identify which reviews are reliable and what are the key results.

Broad overviews of the findings of systematic reviews can help policymakers, their support staff, and other stakeholders to identify strategies for addressing problems with how their health systems are organised, financed, and governed and with identifying effective strategies for implementing changes. It can also help to identify needs and priorities for new evaluations of health system arrangements and for systematic reviews.

A team of Cochrane researchers from Argentina, Chile, Norway, and South Africa prepared four overviews of the available evidence from up-to-date systematic reviews about the effects of health system arrangements in low-income countries. They included 124 systematic reviews in the four overviews. For each review, a user-friendly summary of key findings was produced (see http://supportsummaries.org/), enabling users to explore the overview findings in more depth. The summaries include over 480 key messages about the effects of health system arrangements in low-income countries.

An overview of delivery arrangements included 50 systematic reviews that included a total of 919 studies. These reviews found that many delivery arrangements probably have desirable effects, including task shifting or role expansion and strategies for coordinating care.

An overview of financial arrangements included 15 systematic reviews that included a total of 276 studies. The effects of most of the financial arrangements that were reviewed were uncertain. This includes the effects of providing financial incentives and disincentives for health care workers, and the effects of most types of financial incentives and disincentives for people using health services.

An overview of governance arrangementsincluded 21 systematic reviews that included a total of 172 studies. These reviews found that restrictions on medicines reimbursement (pre-authorisation), community mobilisation, and disclosing to the public performance data on health facilities and providers probably have desirable effects. The effects of other governance arrangements that were reviewed were uncertain.

An overview of implementation strategiesincluded 39 systematic reviews that included a total of 1332 studies. These reviews found that many different implementation strategies probably improve professional practice, including educational meetings, educational outreach, practice facilitation, local opinion leaders, audit and feedback, and tailored interventions. Many strategies targeted at healthcare recipients also probably have desirable effects on the use of health care. For example, mass media interventions lead to an increase in immediate uptake of HIV testing and reminders and recall strategies for caregivers probably increase routine childhood vaccination uptake.

Dr Simon Lewin, Joint Co-ordinating Editor of Cochrane’s Effective Practice and Organisation of Care (EPOC) Group and Cochrane author noted that: “These overviews are a key source of evidence for decision makers in low-income countries who are considering options for strengthening the health system in their setting. The overviews use a unique approach, based on user-friendly summaries of each contributing review, and we hope that this will make the evidence identified much more accessible to decision makers and those who support them.”

Dr Andy Oxman, another Cochrane author and a Senior Researcher at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health added: “On the one hand, these overviews show that there is a large body of evidence that can inform decisions about health systems in low-income countries. On the other hand, they show that there are many important gaps in what is known. In addition to using the evidence identified in these overviews to inform their decisions, health policymakers and those who support them should routinely consider rigorously evaluating the effects of decisions to change health system arrangements when there are important uncertainties about the benefits and harms.”

Dr Charles Shey Wiysonge, one of the Cochrane authors and the Director of Cochrane South Africa noted that “These overviews have come at an opportune moment, when African countries are considering the best approaches for achieving Universal Health Coverage. The overviews and the underlying user-friendly evidence summaries – the SUPPORT Summaries - are important resources for constructive engagement and exchange between Cochrane Africa and relevant national stakeholders for evidence-informed health decision making in Africa.”

World-leading dermatologists and their patients are celebrating huge improvements in the treatment of skin diseases like skin cancer, psoriasis, and acne as the Cochrane Skin Group marks its 20th anniversary this week. The effects of the 120 plus published Cochrane Skin Reviews have been far-reaching and have had real impacts on patient care. These include skin cancer, skin allergies, and acne, blistering diseases, hair disorders like alopecia, fungal infections and psoriasis as well as tropical parasitic diseases.

The group is coordinated by the University of Nottingham’s Centre of Evidence Based Dermatology and is part of the global Cochrane network that carries out systematic reviews of primary research covering all areas of health and health policy. Cochrane is internationally recognised as setting the highest standards in evidence-based health care resources.

The effects of the 120 plus published Cochrane Skin Reviews have been far-reaching and have had real impacts on patient care. These include skin cancer, skin allergies and acne, blistering diseases, hair disorders like alopecia, fungal infections and psoriasis as well as tropical parasitic diseases.

“By systematically reviewing and summarising all relevant clinical trials, Cochrane Skin tries to drive up the quality of primary research into skin disease prevention and treatments,” says Professor Hywel Williams, the visionary founder of Cochrane Skin. “A lot of dermatology clinical trials have addressed unimportant questions that mean little to patients, and which have been designed and reported badly. By sorting out the wheat from the chaff, Cochrane Skin draws a line in the sand in order to stimulate better primary research.”

Inspired by a call to action from one of the original Cochrane founders, Sir Iain Chalmers, in the British Medical Journal in 1992, Professor Williams set about building Cochrane Skin, which was officially registered with Cochrane (originally The Cochrane Collaboration) on 12th September 1997.

At present more than 1,300 people from 61 different countries contribute to the work of the Cochrane group, with an established Satellite group in France and others planned in South America and the USA.

From the outset, Cochrane Skin has closely involved patient groups in its work. Maxine Whitton MBE, a co-founder of The Vitiligo Society, was formerly Chairman and is now a Patron, has had the skin pigmentation condition ‘vitiligo’ since childhood. Maxine said:

“Professor Williams encouraged and supported me in producing the first review of interventions for vitiligo. This review retrieved just 19 randomised trials, mostly of poor quality, published since 1966, highlighting the need for more research and well-designed trials as the basis for informed decisions on treatments. We conducted two further Cochrane Skin reviews published in 2010 (57 trials) and 2015 (96 trials).

“The review has stimulated further vitiligo research and projects. For example, the Vitiligo Society has helped us in the recruitment of participants for a pilot study of psychological interventions for vitiligo and also a large multi-centre trial combining topical treatment and NB-UVB for vitiligo (Hi-Light) based at Nottingham, which is ongoing.”

Cochrane Skin will be celebrating its 20th anniversary as the first Global Evidence Summit (GES) takes place in Cape Town, South Africa (13th – 16th September 2017). This event sees Cochrane join with four other leading organisations – the Guidelines International Network, The Campbell Collaboration, the International Society for Evidence-based Health Care, and the Joanna Briggs Institute – to focus on the opportunities and challenges facing low- and middle-income countries. The theme of the GES, ‘Using Evidence. Improving Lives’, will highlight and promote evidence-informed approaches to health policy and development, offering the most cost-effective interventions.

Cochrane Skin is grant-funded by the National Insitute for Health Research (NIHR) Systematic Reviews Programme.

More information is available from Professor Hywel Williams, Centre of Evidence Based Dermatology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences on +44 (0)115 or email hywel.williams@nottingham.ac.uk or Emma Rayner in the Communications Office at The University of Nottingham, on +44 (0)115 951 5793, emma.rayner@nottingham.ac.uk

Are you interested in developing a knowledge organisation working for better health in Norway and globally?We are seeking a specialist director responsible for the evaluation of interventions in the health, care and welfare services.

The specialist director will be responsible for developing the field of evaluation of interventions in the Division for Health Services, including systematic reviews, health technology assessments (HTAs) and health economic analyses. The specialist director will be responsible for many of the division's and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health's external activities in these fields, including collaboration with external stakeholders within and outside Norway. In autumn 2017, the division will adopt a new organisational structure, with more work in teams and projects. The specialist director, together with the rest of the division’s management group, will be responsible for implementing and further developing the new organisational structure and new working methods within the division.

The Division for Health Services is one of four divisions in the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. We work with health system assessments, evaluation of interventions, dissemination and use of knowledge, and global health. With regard to the evaluation of interventions, the division contributes with systematic reviews on the effect of interventions in the health, care and welfare sectors, as well as systematic reviews on causes of disease and prognosis for various conditions. The division also conducts health technology assessments (HTAs) of new interventions that are relevant for introduction into the health service, where safety, efficacy, costs and other aspects of the interventions are considered. Our target groups are decision makers in health administration, in the health and care services and in the welfare sectors - including healthcare professionals and patients. The division collaborates with a number of key actors in Norway and internationally, including Cochrane and the Campbell Collaboration.

Job description

Participate in the division’s management group and contribute to the overall management of the division together with the executive director and the rest of the management group

Contribute to optimal resource use across the divisions of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and across the departments in the division

Further develop the field of evaluation of interventions and seek to realise the division's development plan for 2018–2022 in this field

Further develop the field of evaluation of interventions at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and ensure collaboration and co-ordination of activities across the divisions at the institute

Implement and further develop new organisational structure and new working methods in the division

Promote a good working environment and professional development for the division's and institute's employees

Contribute to open and professional communication at the institute and towards partners, users and the media

Line manager responsibility (staff, finance, etc.) for one or more departments may be delegated from the executive director. Management of other interdisciplinary functions may also be considered

Qualifications

Doctoral degree in a field relevant for the post, preferably within the health, natural or social sciences

This Cochrane Overview is the first publication produced with the support of Cochrane’s Fast Track service. This service, which is offered by the Cochrane Editorial Unit, supports expedited production of high-quality, high-impact Cochrane Reviews. For more information, please visit the Fast Track information page.

Key findings:

A new Cochrane Overview has identified effective and safe clinician-focussed interventions to reduce antibiotic prescribing for acute respiratory infections (ARIs) in primary care.

The authors found that point-of-care CRP testing, procalcitonin-guided management and shared decision making probably safely reduce antibiotic prescribing in the management of ARIs compared to usual care.

There were no trials in the included reviews which compared interventions against one another, so we do not know which is most effective at reducing antibiotic prescribing for ARIs in primary care.

Context:

Antibiotic resistance has become a major public health problem, with some infections no longer treatable using currently available drugs. The inappropriate use of antibiotics is associated with the increase of resistance.

Most antibiotics are prescribed in primary care, and most commonly for ARIs. In most cases ARIs seen in primary care are spontaneously resolved without antibiotics.

The management of ARIs in primary care is therefore a key target for influencing the antibiotic prescribing behaviour of clinicians.

Moderate-quality evidence suggests that the following interventions probably have an important effect on reducing antibiotic prescribing in primary care:

C-reactive protein point-of-care testing in general practice probably reduces antibiotic prescribing with little or no effect on symptom duration, patient satisfaction, or reconsultation;

shared decision making in the management of ARI in general practice probably reduces antibiotic prescribing without increasing likelihood of reconsultation, and may maintain patient satisfaction;

procalcitonin-guided management of ARI in probably reduces antibiotic prescribing in general practice and emergency departments without affecting health-related quality of life and whilst avoiding treatment failure.

There were no trials in the included reviews which compared these interventions against one another, so we do not know which is the most effective.

For the other interventions, including multifaceted interventions, those centred on clinician education, patient information leaflets, and the use of rapid viral diagnostics, the evidence was of low or very low quality across outcomes, and we could not confidently draw any conclusions about the effects of these interventions compared to usual care. Further primary research is necessary to improve the evidence base in order to be able to make informed decisions about the value of these interventions.

None of the trials in the included reviews reported on management costs for the treatment of an ARI or any associated complications, so it was difficult to weigh the benefits and costs of implementing these interventions in practice.

Most of this research was undertaken in high-income countries, and it may not generalize to other settings.